September Blog

Are you too old to be on Facebook if you are 82? No, I am not talking about myself, not yet. What I have been mulling about during the last few months is if it is time for 82-year-old Swedish Press to embrace social media. Should we be taking this step into the future or should we accept that you simply cannot teach old dogs to sit?

I think about all the steps into the future we have taken, albeit kicking and screaming, during the 25 years I have been the publisher and editor of this magazine. I remember our old typesetter and Headliner, and the first KayPro computer.

Then it was onto the first of many Apple computers. How revolutionary that was!

But we still had to get PMTs done of all the pictures and do the whole layout on a sheet big enough for 4 pages. These sheets we then had to hand over physically to the printer.

Today it is all done on the computers and electronically uploaded for the printer. We also have an active website and our electronic editions are becoming increasingly popular. We actually even twittered every day during the virtual trip "Around Swedish America in 548 Days".

But we have never been on Facebook, LikedIn or any of the other social media.

And that is not okay according to the speakers at a magazine conference I attended in June, because visitors on the web are abandoning the traditional sites in favor of social media.

I have never joined Facebook myself but I can see that Swedish Press has to be there. This is, however, all new to us and we are now hoping for help from our readers to steer us right!

By the time you are reading this issue of Swedish Press we will be on Facebook, so please check us out, “share” and tell your friends about Swedish Press and let us know if you "like" it, because we need every friend we can get!

It is going to be fun to meet you readers on Facebook and we hope you will share your love of Sweden in the features that we plan to include on our page. You can share your Swedish pictures, sightings of famous Swedes, favorite Swedish places and above all your opinions. Facebook will be the place we meet for quick information, while www.nordicway.com will remain the place for background and all the "hard" information. Other social media will follow so in this way many more people interested in Sweden will see that we exist.

Swedish Press exists for its readers, so let us know on Facebook that you are there!

Have a nice September!

Anders

August Blog

Since the 1960s Sweden has been widely admired not only for its “third way” of dealing with the economy and social issues but also for its design and high quality innovative products. This is something that naturally comes and goes in waves.

There have been times when Sweden’s star has fallen and other times, like the present, when Sweden is attracting a great deal of attention for its thriving economy and general well-being.

"Sweden’s 5.5 percent growth rate last year was stronger than any other developed nation in Europe and beat the 2.8 percent expansion in the United States" wrote the Washington Post almost reluctantly about "Sweden, the rock star of the recovery."

This is just one of the myriad of accolades Sweden is getting from around the world.

There are, however, detractors and the one causing the biggest stir now is Tyler Brulé, who has for many years been one of the biggest fans of Sweden. The Financial Times columnist, editor-in-chief of Monocle and founder of the Wallpaper magazine has been an influential promoter of Swedish design and, through his magazines, made Swedish fashion, food, art and architecture hip around the world. Tyler Brûlé who has also had a summer house on his own island in the Stockholm archipelago for many years became an outspoken advocate of the Swedish way of life.

Now he has changed his tune.

“Swedish goods and services used to be a refreshing constant in my daily life but somehow they’ve vanished – no cars, no telecommunications, no media, no hotels, no airlines," he writes. "H&M and Ikea might continue their global assault (along with the odd crime author), waving a small blue and yellow flag, but increasingly Sweden Inc seems a little less potent”.

“Ten years ago it was a pleasure to board an aircraft belonging to Scandinavian Airlines. But I flew on SAS a couple of times this week and was more saddened than shocked by the experience. And I wondered if the SAS brand would be around this time next year".

I flew SAS this week myself and was surprised when I was asked to pay 20 kronor for a cup of tea. (In fact I apparently looked so chocked that the stewardess told me that it was fine if I did not pay anything this time, as I obviously did not know that they had had to start charging for everything except water on European routes).

Apart from this I really have no complaints either about SAS or Sweden.

Wherever I went during the last few weeks there was a general feeling of well-being. All the closure “Stängt för semester” signs on stores and even restaurants exude a sense of confidence and security.

There are naturally some negative aspects but I will leave them for another time.

Have a nice August

Anders